The present invention relates to the assembly of a wind turbine.
In its final assembly condition, a wind turbine generally comprises a tower surmounted by a nacelle cooperating with a rotor receiving a plurality of blades.
In order to reach said final condition, assembly operations of the different constituent elements of the wind turbine are carried out.
These operations are generally complex and expensive.
This is the case in particular with regard to mounting the blades. This is explained in particular by the fact that the blades are bulky and their point of attachment on the wind turbine is high up.
Said mounting is carried out in standard fashion by firstly fixing all or part of the blades onto the rotor and by lifting the “rotor+blades” assembly up to the apex of the vertically-positioned tower. The lifting means necessary for this purpose, for example cranes, are heavy and complex.
The situation is particularly difficult in the case of an offshore wind turbine, i.e. that is intended to be located in the open sea.
In fact, conventionally, the constituent elements of such a wind turbine are transported separately, then assembled at sea.
By way of example, habitually, the rotor and tower are transported separately out to sea on a transport vessel. The three blades (or only two of the three blades in order to limit the bulk and allow storage on the transport vessel) are already fixed onto the rotor during transport. Then, once at sea, the rotor and the blades are lifted together in order to be positioned at the apex of the tower, using cranes mounted on barges or fixed platforms.
This work at sea is relatively lengthy, complex and expensive. The level of safety is also sometimes lower than that of work carried out on land.
An object of the present invention is to limit at least some of these drawbacks.